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The Warm Call

Written by: Russ Lombardo

Article Overview: One thing you cannot debate is that you will definitely improve your cold calling by being prepared before the call. We all get calls from sales people who are clearly unprepared and embarrass themselves by trying to “lower your phone bills” when they don’t even know how much you are currently paying for your phone bills. Or, they try to get you to refinance your home when you live in an apartment. Or they offer to create a web site for your company when you already have one. If you are prepared before the call and have done your research on the prospect you are calling, then your “cold” call actually becomes a “warm” call.

The Warm Call

One thing you cannot debate is that you will definitely improve your cold calling by being prepared before the call. We all get calls from sales people who are clearly unprepared and embarrass themselves by trying to “lower your phone bills” when they don’t even know how much you are currently paying for your phone bills. Or, they try to get you to refinance your home when you live in an apartment. Or they offer to create a web site for your company when you already have one. If you are prepared before the call and have done your research on the prospect you are calling, then your “cold” call actually becomes a “warm” call.

For most things I do, I have a process, and cold calling is no different. Your cold calling process should include the steps, reasons and outcomes for every call. To begin with, you should always have a clear purpose for the call – Why are you calling? Next, have a goal – What is your desired outcome? Is it to make a sale, schedule a meeting, or get introduced to the decision maker? You also have to remember that in order to get your prospect’s interest; you have to appeal to his needs, wants and desires. Remember WIIFM - What’s In It For Me? Of course the “Me” in this case is your prospect, not you. Make sure your discussions make it clear that everything you are asking has to do with helping his problem, not with you making a sale.

You also don’t want to preach. This is what those annoying telemarketers do. They “tell” you what it’s all about and try to lead you down their path, which is to buy something, instead of asking you what you need. The key to doing this effectively is to ask questions about the prospect, such as what is currently not working for him, how much it is costing him to continue in this mode of operation, what happens if nothing changes, and questions of this nature.

You should always “warm up” your cold calls by doing research in advance. It is very easy to learn about a company via the Internet. Read about the company’s background and their products. Read their press releases and annual reports. When you call, you can refer to something significant about their business which helps break the ice and shows that you are interested in them. And, don’t give up. These days it takes six to seven calls, or maybe more, to get through to someone. The average sales person gives up after two to three calls; not even half-way there. Perseverance is the key.

If the prospect you are calling is from a referral (internal from your own company or external from a networking source) find out everything you can about the prospect from the referral source before you call. Whatever they can’t tell you, find out yourself by doing research. Information that will be helpful includes:

• Exact, official name of the organization or business
• List of branches, divisions, units and/or subsidiaries
• Contact information (all appropriate names, titles, addresses, phone numbers, web site, etc.)
• Number of employees
• Annual revenue and P&L statements for the past 5 years
• Primary business they are in (products, services, etc.)
• Who their customers are
• Names & Titles of the Board members
• Names & Titles of the officers and/or executive team
• Names & Titles of the executive assistants of the above teams
• Significant events, such as recent mergers, acquisitions, takeovers, reorganizations and litigations

You may not need all of this information, but whatever you can gather will give you insight and knowledge about the company and the person you are about to call.

Where do you find all this information? Using the Internet and your public library, you can learn a lot about a company and even the individuals you’ll be meeting with. There are various sources which you can use including:

• The Company’s Web site
• Search Engines. Yahoo or Google the company’s or person’s name you are meeting with. Put quotes around the names for more accurate searches.
• Yellow Books Leadership Directories (www.leadershipdirectories.com/products/directories.htm)
• Business Directories (look on the Internet or in your local Library)
o S&P’s Register of Corporations, Directories & Executives (www.standardandpoors.com)
o Thomas Register of American Manufacturers (www.thomasnet.com)
o Industrial Directory (www.industrialdirectory.com)
o Ward’s Business Directories (Library)
o D&B (www.dnb.com)
o Hoover’s (www.hoovers.com/free)
• Annual Reports and 10Ks
• Organization Charts (usually very hard to come by)
• Business Magazines (i.e., Forbes, Fortune, Business Week, etc.)
• Trade Journals
• Company’s own Brochures
• Local Chamber of Commerce

When you are ready to begin researching a company that you are planning on cold calling, focus on the following:

• Gather company and person information (see above)
• Gather Competitor Data (repeat the same steps for your prospect’s major competitor)
• Research the latest news. Check the prospect’s Press Releases posted on his web site. Go to “news.google.com” and search on the name of the prospect’s firm. Look for potential contact points within the firm.
• Find Analyst information. Using the previous step, search on the names of industry analysts who study the firm or the firm’s industry. The names of analysts are often included in news stories about, and press releases from, the company you are researching.
• Build a Notebook. If you find a lot of information about the company and people you want to meet with, create a notebook for that prospect with printouts of all the data you discovered. Use Tabs if necessary to organize sections; including Corporate, Personal, Competitive, Analysis, and Notes. Use this information to study the company and to develop a plan about how to approach them as a lead.

Using these techniques will surely warm up your cold call to make you more prepared for a successful first encounter.

This article was adapted from Russ Lombardo’s latest book, “CyberSelling – Using CRM Technology to Help You Sell.” For more information, check out www.CyberSellingBook.com.

Good luck and good selling!
Russ Lombardo
(702) 655-5652

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